Perhaps deep down, he had expected Delphius to come looking for him.

But he chose to ignore that thought because he didn’t want to face it.

Delphius had even gone so far as to visit the Luckhardt estate, which he despised so much. It wasn’t hard to guess that he would come to see him soon now that he had something to tell him.

“What is it? You’ve always acted as though you’d never seek me out in your life—and now you come to visit me of your own accord.”

“I heard that, while I was away, you gave my wife a gift.”

“A gift? Ah… you mean a congratulatory gift for her pregnancy?”

As if only just remembering, Daniel paused, the hand idly toying with his teacup coming to a stop. Then he lifted his gaze and offered a smooth, easy smile.

“That’s right. Why?”

“And you knew it was a poisoned tea.”

“Poisoned tea? I have no idea what you’re talking about. As you can see, it’s the very tea I drink myself.”

Daniel casually lifted the teacup in his hand.

“It suited my taste, so I recommended it to her… Did something happen?”

“You sound as if you were hoping something would.”

“That’s impossible. I’ve always wished for the two of you to live happily, no matter what. That has always been my sincere wish.”

He emphasized the two of you once more—as if to make it clear that there was no place for a third in their lives.

It was also meant for Delphius, who would not miss even the slightest inflection.

“…Are you going to keep pretending you knew nothing?”

“I truly have no idea what you mean.”

There was no evidence. No proof. To anyone who wasn’t pregnant, it was just ordinary grain tea.

Even if Delphius became suspicious and allowed anger to take over, all Daniel had to do was appear unconcerned. It had always been that way — Delphius always ended up losing.

Just as when they were children and their parents forced Delphius to kneel in the garden and submit like a dog.

“…Very well. Then I’ll handle it myself.”

After those words were exchanged, there was no further contact.

They had never been close enough to keep in touch in the first place, so the silence did not seem unusual. It was nothing more than a fleeting incident, hardly worthy of being called even a minor episode. Just a brief, impulsive visit from his brother.

Or so he had thought.

“…Over something as trivial as a bit of tea, you’re making such a fuss? She didn’t even miscarry!”

Enraged, Daniel slammed his fist down on the desk. The impact knocked over an ink pen, staining the surface, but he didn’t spare it a glance.

His hand was throbbing from the force of the blow and his anger was growing more and more uncontrollable.

“All for the sake of that wretched woman? You’d destroy your own blood and throw the family into ruin?”

There was no other way to describe it: he was insane.

The family’s standing was directly tied to their prestige. Even Daniel had never invoked Luckhardt’s name when starting new ventures.

But Delphius was different. By willingly stepping into the mud, he had dragged the Luckhardt name into the pages of those filthy papers.

“D*mn it!”

Daniel let out a furious roar that echoed through the office. Grabbing whatever he could reach, he threw it in a fit of rage, but no solution came to him.

Now that the story had been published, it was only a matter of time before those involved arrived. He had to resolve the situation before it spiraled out of control and people arrived by carriage, ship or even war vessel.

Finally, after smashing the last vase to pieces, Daniel pushed himself to his feet. He grabbed his coat and hat and stormed out of the office.

The place he went to was Delphius’ office, the man he had always looked down on.

As if they had been expecting him, the staff immediately ushered him inside. On the top floor, where sunlight streamed through the large windows, Delphius stood quietly, gazing out.

The moment Daniel saw him, he knew what he had to do.

That unshakable figure.

That certainty that no amount of anger could dissuade him.

Swallowing his humiliation, Daniel finally spoke.

“…I was wrong.”

“……”

Even at the sound of the door opening, even at the servant announcing Daniel’s arrival, Delphius had not moved. Only now did he slowly turn.

The moment their eyes met—those cold, gleaming amber eyes—Daniel instinctively lowered his gaze.

“I… I was misled by Ariella. I… played a trick on your wife—”

“A trick?”

“N-no. You’re right. It was something I never should have done. I lost my senses for a moment.”

He hurried to correct himself. It grated on him unbearably, but with the situation as it was, he bowed even his pride.

“Perhaps this is the gods showing me my foolishness… Delphius, please—just this once, help me.”

“My, Daniel.”

The corner of Delphius’s lips lifted. It was a perfectly composed, businesslike smile—befitting a man of trade.

“I hear you’ve piled up quite a debt. What made you throw that much money away—straight into the sea?”

He couldn’t take the bait. He couldn’t allow himself to be provoked by such mocking words.

For the sake of his plans—for the sake of the family—Daniel clenched his teeth, enduring as his pride was torn to shreds.

“…I know. I regret it. But what can I do? It’s already happened. So, Delphius—just this once, if you lend me the money…”

“A loan?”

Delphius let out a quiet, disbelieving laugh.

“It seems the Duke of Luckhardt, in his boundless affection for his son, failed to explain things properly… but there’s no money I can give you right now.”

“…What?”

Startled, Daniel forgot even the restraint he had been forcing upon himself and lifted his head sharply.

“What kind of nonsense is that? You don’t have money? You? In all of Mateo, how could you possibly not have money? Don’t tell me this is just some trick to avoid lending it to me—!”

“I told you. It’s tied up.”

“……”

“So there’s nothing I can lend you, Daniel.”

“……”

“Regrettable, isn’t it?”

No… this couldn’t be happening.

As his mind began to spin, Daniel reached out, as if trying to hold on to something slipping away.

“Th-then borrow it!”

‘Do you have any idea what it took for me to come here?’

‘All the humiliation and shame I endured just to stand before you?’

Delphius cannot betray his expectations like this. He hadn’t travelled all this way just to appease someone’s whims – he deserved something in return.

“Right! Just borrow it… take a loan from another bank! With your name, who would refuse you?”

“…Why should I?”

“What…?”

“I can’t find a reason to. Daniel, if you had succeeded in even one venture, I might have trusted you and found a way to lend you the money. But you’ve never succeeded once. So what exactly am I supposed to believe? How can I hand over such a large sum?”

“Family should help each other. Once our ageing father is gone, it’ll just be the two of us left in this world.”

“…Family?”

It was instantaneous.

As if he had never expected such a word to come from Daniel’s mouth, Delphius’s brows twisted, a flicker of undisguised contempt crossing his face.

“How laughable. You’ve never once treated me as family—yet now that you need something, suddenly we’re family?”

“Delphi. You’re not a child anymore. Isn’t it time you let go of the past?”

“Let go of the past…”

A faint, mocking laugh slipped from Delphius’s lips.

“Is that why you dragged my mother into it when you spoke to Ilenia—telling her not to repeat the same path?”

For Delphius, the Luckhardt estate where he spent his childhood was nothing short of a living hell.

How convenient. He remembered being led out of that place by Ariella’s hand, yet he had completely forgotten how he had treated Delphius before that — when Delphius was unable to distinguish one person from another.

He remembered only what suited him.

He clung to those fragments and twisted them into something easier to accept, before forcing that version onto Delphius.

It was laughable.

“You’re wasting my time. Let’s be precise. What will you give me in exchange for the money you’re asking for?”

“What I can offer you right now…”

“The title.”

“…!”

“To borrow such a large sum, it would only be fitting to offer me the most valuable thing you have.”

“Have you lost your mind? Do you even realize that something like that could never belong to a fool like you?”

“Is that so?”

As Daniel’s true thoughts spilled out, Delphius slowly leaned closer. His voice, soft and almost gentle—as though granting a final mercy—slipped into Daniel’s ear.

“Then choose. Take on the debt and die… or give up your title and live.”

“You despicable—!”

“Only now you say that?”

His gaze was far too cold for someone merely looking at a man consumed by rage.

Delphius studied his brother—the one who had once lived surrounded by a happiness he himself had never been allowed to touch, never even permitted to desire—with something that almost resembled pity.

“Daniel. From the moment you saw me as nothing more than the Duke’s money-making fool… I was already a filthy, underhanded man in your eyes.”

It didn’t take long.

After storming out in a rage and hurling curses too vile to repeat, only a few days passed before an official letter arrived.

It was a formal declaration in which Daniel relinquished his position as heir and pledged to do everything in his power to ensure that Delphius would inherit the ducal title.

It was an unambiguous admission of defeat. There was nowhere left for him to turn.

When the Duke of Luckhardt heard the news, he reacted no differently. He tried to calm and even scold his eldest son, but when Daniel bitterly retorted, ‘”Then you should have secured the money before saying any of that!”, the duke was left speechless.

Ultimately, he had no choice but to swallow his frustration and pass the title on to Delphius.

Although he was still in denial and briefly considered his third son, it was unlikely that he would follow the Duke’s wishes, as he had long since aligned himself with Delphius.

Everything was proceeding exactly as planned.

As each piece fell into place, Delphius felt a quiet sense of satisfaction stir within him.

And then—

“M-Milady has gone into difficult labor!”